ExcelsiorTheFathead

Monday has temps well below freezing in the higher elevations but above freezing in the village. Bunny slope is grippy and unfrozen at 8:30. I got first chair on the quad, then on Cedar Park, and first tracks on Lower K but it is slightly too firm. I'm back on the larger-radius Oxess today and didn't feel confident about opening up and charging hard here. The skies are overcast with a big thick cloud socking in the upper third of the resort and a tiny amount of snow is falling. I went over to Stella as did most people because it is below the cloud and found AM groomed Cathedral to be Gooood. Zip Down was PM groomed and slightly too firm. I ended up just lapping Cathedral until 10:30 and left after that. This was the first day of Spring Fling pass validity, but very few people were on the hill in the morning. According to the news, a skier died on the hill on Friday after injuries sustained in some kind of single-person accident. Few details are available but some people were saying that he hit a tree.

Sunday is sunny with temps around freezing at open. This is the first day of DST and few people came up early. Bunny slope is a bit too firm. Jack's had springtime variable weirdness. B-chute was kinda ok. Lower Ridge didn't feel right. The better snow is in the back. Lower K and Cathedral were the best today. I saw a few deep carves on Vagabond and Zip Down but know not who made them.... The crowds hit around 11 when I went back to my car. There were big lines at the front quads and the parking lot was full.

Friday is another sunny day starting cool then warming up. We went straight to the back and rode Lower K then moved on to Stella. Zip Down is the best there again. Rode hard until 11:30 and managed to miss the crowds. When I drove out the parking lot was mud and had filled with cars. I got back on my Coiler skwal today and had to ride quite a bit slower to keep it in the groove since it is tighter than the Oxess. It doesn't like to go fast.

Thursday morning is full-on sunny with good groom again. Just me and Sultan Guy tearing it up like we did back in the 2009-10 season. AM groomed Cathedral was a little crumbly but Zip Down was firm and tight. We ripped up Lower K pretty good as well. The resort is dead empty but we expect crowds tomorrow. Some guy on the chair told us that Schweitzer sold 13000 season passes when the normal amount is 4000. Could that possibly be true?

Wednesday has perfect firm groom in most places but there is a huge cloud blocking the sun and the light is flat. I went straight to the back at open and got first tracks on Lower K. Stella runs were also good but it was hard to read the terrain. Very few people on the hill. I had to ride by myself today and I'm saving energy for tomorrow so I left early.

Tuesday was a good carving morning. Cool with clouds moving around and some sun. The snow was good to excellent everywhere we went with few people on the mountain. It was getting a little warm by 11 AM and the thin snow in the parking lot was starting to melt. But the weather forecast doesn't call for crazy warm, so this whole week should be good.

Monday after 4" of new snow over the weekend. It is suitably cold again with filtered sun thru a high altitude overcast. The groom is firm and fast in many places but Abaracadabara was rather awful with crunchy soft weirdness. On our way to the back we saw some ruts that were hard to identify and it turns out that Sultan Guy is in town this week.

Friday is more of the same but slightly overcast with a little wind as a new weather system starts to move in. Lower K is smooth, firm and fast. Cathedral and Zip Down also good carving. Sometime around 11 the line at Stella got annoying. It seems like a Friday crowd shows up regardless of the conditions. There's supposed to be new snow over the weekend followed by days of good weather. When I left around 11:45 the parking lot was a mud bog. I hate coming home with muddy boots.

Thursday has lots of bright sunshine and the village temp at open is above freezing. I'm wearing only my shell with no thermals or insulating layers. Overdressed people are bursting into flames. All the snow on the front side was extremely variable and poor for carving. I thought that I might not find good snow but Lower K was decent. Upper Cathedral and Zip Down were extremely good around 10-11 AM with hero grip. I think that tomorrow I'll head straight to the back at open and not waste time with the front side runs.

Mission Ridge has a new bubble lift but they still can't be open every day? WTF? Why can't they operate a full daily schedule? GRRR.

Video shot by skier Bill.

Wednesday is hot, sunny and sweaty. The parking lot is frozen at open and the bunny slope is a bit on the firm side. Dane, Mark and I hit the usual places and found variable but generally good conditions. Some places were softening up quickly, but we got many good runs in. Temps will continue to be too high thru Friday. A lady stopped us at the triple and said that her kids have some old Priors that need to be gotten rid of, so we'll see if that is fruitful.

Tuesday is cloudy with some sun breaks and pretty windy. The parking lot is an icy mess at open but the bunny slope is surprisingly good. Most of the runs were in good shape for carving although the lower areas started to soften up quite a bit. I left after 11 and the parking lot was back to slush. Warm weather continues. Few people are coming up.

Monday is mostly sunny and too warm. Dane's snowboarding school is in operation today. I got good runs in most of the usual places but the star was Zip Down. By the time I left after 12 the parking lot was in full slush mode. I suspect that we will have low-altitude thaw-freeze tomorrow morning, and it will get worse as the week progresses. Too early for this kind of springiness.

Wednesday was cool with some clouds and periods of good sun. Pretty good snow everywhere. Mark got hit by a skier on Jack's on our first run from the top but fortunately it wasn't at high speed so there were no injuries. It was a remarkably dorky move on the part of the skier who had all the opportunity in the world to yield but seemed to have been confused by the weird carving motions. Everybody who saw it happen was flabbergasted. We got good runs in most of the usual places but never went to Stella because Cathedral was supposedly ungroomed. Upper K was doable and we finished with a run through the park. Out at 11:30 to a full parking lot. Many people came up today.

Thanks. There's a minor possibility that I might change my residency to Nevada and I'm considering my options.

Tuesday might have been a reasonable carving day but it was RUINED by a freak snowstorm that dumped over an inch between 7 and 8 AM. The snow was windblown so on places like Lower K there were areas of bare groom and over 2" deep on the sides that made things awfully inconsistent. Some areas around lower Stella seem a bit icy and I think that it either rained or slushed down here during the previous day. Temps are around freezing with broken clouds and generally good vis. Tomorrow should be better with good weather in the forecast.

Can anybody give a current report on Mt. Rose? I've never been there but know that some people carve there. How is it nowadays? How much are season passes? What is it like on weekdays?

Thursday is colder than expected. It starts sunny but clouds over at open and getting sun on any given run is hit-and-miss. Everything is pretty darn firm now. I hit B-chute at open but slid a couple of times when my lazy-ass out-of-balance carving style wouldn't keep the edge in. Definitely firmer than hero. Lower K was good. Cathedral was in full shadow and a bit on the firm side. I got a couple of really nice runs down Loophole with good vis before I left around 11. Not nearly as crowded as yesterday for some reason. Maybe I got people to stay away? Snow is in the forecast for tonight and may continue for days. Temperatures might get warm enough to rain again by Sunday or Monday? Noooooooo.

Wednesday is cool and breezy with mostly sun and some broken clouds. It is the 2nd day of groom and everything is firm, fast, and grippy. I got the first tracks on mid/lower Ridge and it was hero. One run down Pend Oreille, a couple down Lower K and Cathedral. Around 10:40 the line at Stella became instantly stupid. I have figured out that many schools in Western Washington are now on break and everyone is coming over here. YOU WASHINGTONIANS SHOULD STAY HOME AND GO BACK TO WHERE YOU CAME FROM. JUST STOP IT WITH YOUR DRIVING ABOUT SKIING IN IDAHO BEHAVIOR. (I hope I don't sound unwelcoming.) I made adjustments to my bindings and the Oxess is performing well.

Tuesday. Cloudy and a little windy. After a few days of intolerable cold and wind, we have 4" of new that fell during the day yesterday. Temperatures today are more reasonable but I still felt pretty chilly. I'm riding my Oxess skwal for the first time this season; up to now I have been riding the Coiler skwal. The Oxess has a longer radius and needs to go faster. I found pretty quickly that my binding set-up needs some adjustment as I am having trouble pressuring the edge on heelside. Good runs were made on Lower K and Cathedral even though the light was flat and clouds were going in and out. Just after 10 AM a small lift line appeared at Stella which was surprising because it is a weekday. I went back to my car to find the parking lot full. Lots of people will come out for anything even vaguely resembling a powder day.

TCDR. (too cold; didn't ride)

Wednesday is sunny and single digit cold again. I've been able to tolerate it by cranking up my boot heaters and putting Boot Gloves on the outside, and by using hand warmers in my gloves. I went up earlier and was on snow at 9. I only rode the front until 10:20 but things were pretty good. B-Chute was a little firmer than hero and mid-Ridge had some icy chunkification. Pend Oreille was dreamy. Even fewer people than yesterday. Tomorrow might have lower temps and moderate winds so I'll likely stay home.

Tuesday has bright sunshine but it is cold. Around open it is +4 in the village and -4 on top. I wait until nearly 11 before I get on snow and it is a few degrees warmer. The snow is dry and getting more firmly packed down with each successive day of grooming. It is grippy and smooth. Just about every run is good. Most all of the local carving crew was out today.

Monday morning is pretty cold so I wait until 11 to get on the hill. I meet up with Dane and we take a ride with Thirst Mark and his daughter. Cathedral is pretty good. PDO was good except I didn't do well on the lower steep part. Grooming on B-Chute is weird on the far left with a deep ridge on the first cat pass on that side. I think they need to offset their passes to even things out. Snow on the mountain is good in general but was still a little soft. The forecast for Tuesday thru Friday calls for single digit temps or worse. It is really unlikely that I will be up for first chairs unless there is so much sun that I think I can tolerate the cold.